Educating...for what?: Engagement and Citizenry

Higgins School of the Humanities/Difficult Dialogues: Video Recording from 11/3/2011 event featuring Tom Hayden and Bob Ross "Engagement and Citizenry" Event Description: During their undergraduate years, students participate in a community that is a microcosm of society, and have the opportunity to learn about what it means to be a member of a society—a citizen—while they live it. How do we as educators (and humanists) best support and model this process? Where in our pedagogy can we enhance and develop the qualities of skillful empathy, effective analysis and motivated responsibility that good citizenship demands? Our guest for a conversation on engagement and citizenry is long-time activist Tom Hayden, who was the primary author of the Port Huron Statement of Students for a Democratic Society, which became known for its advocacy of “participatory democracy”. He is joined in conversation by Professor Bob Ross of Clark University, who participated with Hayden in the founding of SDS.

"From Dartboards to Dashboards: The Imperative of using Data to Improve Student Achievement"

Aimee Guidera, Director of the National Data Quality Campaign, delivered the second annual Lee Gurel '48 Lecture in Education, "From Dartboards to Dashboards: The Imperative of Using Data to Improve Student Outcomes." Aimee Rogstad Guidera is the Founding Executive Director of the Data Quality Campaign. She manages a growing partnership among national organizations collaborating to improve the quality, accessibility and use of education data to improve student achievement. Working with 10 Founding Partners, Aimee launched the DQC in 2005 with the goal of every state having a robust longitudinal data system in place by 2009. The Campaign is now in the midst of its second phase focusing on State Actions to ensure effective data use. Aimee joined the National Center for Educational Accountability as Director of the Washington, DC office in 2003. During her eight previous years in various roles at the National Alliance of Business, Aimee supported the corporate community's efforts to increase achievement at all levels of learning. As NAB Vice President of Programs, she managed the Business Coalition Network, comprised of over 1,000 business led coalitions focused on improving education in communities across the country. Prior to joining the Alliance, Aimee focused on school readiness, academic standards, education goals and accountability systems while in the Center for Best Practices at the National Governors Association. She taught for the Japanese Ministry of Education in five Hiroshima high schools where she interviewed educators and studied the Japanese education system immediately after receiving her AB from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs. Aimee also holds a Masters Degree in Public Policy from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.